396 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Apr. 24, 



almost right angles. From Cleuden Mills upwards to near Gribton 

 Ford, the river flows over this conglomerate deposit. 



About a mile and a half north-west from the latter locality, the 

 conglomerate again makes its appearance in the course of a brook on 

 a farm called the New House of Baltarsan, and also at Glengaber, 

 which lies on the west side of the stream. The dip in this locality- 

 appears to be in a S.S.E. direction at a slight angle ; but there having 

 been considerable local disturbance here after the deposition of the 

 new red sandstone, the direction of the dip varies from south to 

 nearly east. 



The conglomerate also occurs at different heights on hills which 

 compose the south-east corner of the adjoining parish of Dunscore ; 

 and from thence it appears to range in the direction of the river Nith, 

 but owing to its being covered by till, all trace of it is soon lost. 



The beds of sandstone, with which the upper portion of the con- 

 glomerate is interstratified, predominate to a greater extent towards 

 the higher portion of the deposit. The conglomerate does not, how- 

 ever, terminate abruptly, for we find fragments of rock amidst the 

 fine sandstone even after the conglomerate ceases to appear in the 

 form of beds. This occurrence gradually becomes rarer as we leave 

 the great mass of conglomerate, and the beds overljdng this deposit 

 ultimately consist exclusively of soft fine-grained sandstone. 



A little to the south of New House, the farm before alluded to, a 

 quarry of this sandstone has been wrought. At Cleuden Bank, a 

 little to the east of Cleuden Mills, a similar sandstone occurs. Here 

 the dip is the same as that of the beds of sandstone which are inter- 

 calated in the conglomerate near this locality, being about 16° south. 



At Castledikes, a short distance south of Dumfries, this higher 

 sandstone occurs lying upon the conglomerate ; and the road to 

 Kingholm Quay having been cut through it, a fine perpendicular 

 escarpment of rock is obtained. In the lower beds the isolated frag- 

 ments, already alluded to, are seen ; these beds, like their represen- 

 tatives at Cleuden Bank, are thick and soft, and are covered by thin 

 flaggy beds. The dip of the sandstone is towards the south-west at 

 a sligbt inclination, both the direction and the dip being apparently 

 similar to that of the underlying conglomerate. 



This higher sandstone seems to have but a small area in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Dumfries. It is probable, however, that it occurs to a 

 considerable extent on the easteni side of the adjoining parish of 

 Holy wood, where it is covered by a deposit of till. This sandstone 

 is the highest stratified deposit of this neighbourhood, but it does 

 not however appear to belong to the uppermost beds of the new red 

 sandstone formation. 



In order to understand the position of this sandstone, it will be 

 necessar}^ to refer to the new red sandstone as it occurs in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Annan, although this locality is not within the district 

 to which this account is strictly applicable. On the east side of the 

 river Annan there is a considerable amount of sandstone to be met 

 with ; which, in the immediate neighbourhood of the town, consists 

 of strata of a red colour and of various thicknesses, interstratified in 



